This application claims the priority of German Application No. 10 2004 046 098.1.0 filed Sep. 23, 2004, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
The invention relates to a folding top clamp for a vehicle having a connecting-link-controlled locking hook which can be displaced by means of guiding devices from a closed position to an open position, the locking hook interacting with at least one hook guide which is in an operative connection with a motor—gearing unit.
A folding top clamp of the initially mentioned type which functions well is known from German Patent Document DE 197 21 229 A1 corresponding in U.S. Pat. 6,158,786. In the case of this arrangement, a geared motor extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle is arranged on one side of the locking hook and is connected by way of a transversely extending transmission element with a gearing unit on the output side, which extends on the opposite side of the locking hook. The gearing unit is formed by a two-stage spur gear system.
It is an object of the invention to further develop a folding top clamp of the initially mentioned type such that it has a simplified structure and a more compact construction.
According to the invention, this object is achieved by providing a folding top clamp for a vehicle having a connecting-link-controlled locking hook which can be displaced by means of guiding devices from a closed position to an open position, the locking hook interacting with at least one hook guide which is in an operative connection with a motor gearing unit, wherein the motor gearing unit extends only on a longitudinal side of the locking hook and comprises an electric motor oriented transversely with respect to a longitudinal center plane of the vehicle, which electric motor interacts by way of a triple-geared-down gearing unit with a hook guide of the locking hook.
Important advantages achieved by means of the invention are that the motor gearing unit extending only on a longitudinal side of the locking hook has a simplified construction, in which case, as a result of the electric motor oriented transversely to the longitudinal center plane of the vehicle and the triple-geared-down gearing unit, a more compact construction is achieved. By means of the connecting-link-controlled locking hook and the special construction of the connecting link path, in addition, an enlarged fetching path of the folding top clamp is achieved in the X-direction. As a result of the arrangement of an emergency operating worm which, in the normal operation of the folding top clamp, fixes a ring gear of the planetary gearing, a relatively simple manual emergency operation for the folding top clamp is created. The combination of the bevel gearing, the worm gearing and the planetary gearing allows the representation of a relatively high overall ratio.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.